Why do people like MLP:FiM?

[lostineverfreeforest]

Because the show is genuinely well written, is pretty funny at times, has great characterization, and does interesting takes on common storylines. Not a single fan thought it would even be half decent before they gave it a shot. It's refreshing to watch something lighthearted when everything these days is chock-full of violence. On the contrary, it doesn't mean I don't enjoy a show like Rick and Morty too.

As far as the fandom goes, I used to be fairly involved. Attended many conventions, meetups, etc. But I've reached a point in my life where it isn't for me anymore. It was fine when I was younger and socially awkward/bankrupt, but it's definitely reached its peak and has become as broken and toxic as any other large fandom in existence (anime, sonic, to name a few). That doesn't mean I still don't enjoy the show. Because it's not socially acceptable for guys to enjoy something meant for little kids and their parents, they make an easy target to bash. And unfortunately, the stranger people/vocal minority tend to stick out the most. Thing is, they are just a minority. They even get flak from regular fans for painting a bad image. Do you seriously expect a large group of people to not have at least a handful of crazies/weirdos? This applies to literally any fandom.

I'll tell you from my extensive experience in nerd fandoms that bronies are nothing more than your common nerd. Outside the show they all have the same interests any other geek has. There really aren't many exceptions but they do exist. I recently attended a meetup of brony university students while visiting another city and they were completely functional individuals. We watched a new episode, played Smash Bros and card games, went out for pizza, and even had a beer with one of them afterwards. Think whatever you want, your preconceptions don't change the reality of it, and the fandom is definitely around to stay. People are quick to judge but not to understand, sheesh.

 

[spCrossing]

The show has some good writting, and the animation did get better as time goes on.

But honestly, I'll just stick with Gravity Falls and Steven Universe nowadays, since those shows adapt from great writting and characters as well. Much better than MLP FiM.

 

[riummi]

The show was better than i thought it would be but i eventually fell out of it a year or two ago. I think gravity falls and SU are better suited for me xD i still like designing diff. ponies thoh cuz its kinda cool...

 

[Twisterheart]

I guess they enjoy the show. Personally, the show just isn't for me. I tried watching it and I couldn't really get into it. The ponies are cute though, so for that reason I got a few of the build a bears. But show wise, I'm just not into it.

 

[lostineverfreeforest]

I would like to add that I think it's pretty hypocritical to bash bronies because they like something "for kids/little girls," considering we're all fans of ANIMAL CROSSING. Something that's easily viewed as juvenile; when I bought my 3DS/New Leaf the employee even commented "You're buying THAT game?" like I was crazy. Do I really need to explain why I enjoy Animal Crossing?

And having experience interacting with the live aspects of fandom, you'll be surprised to hear there isn't a massive proliferation of pornographic material and other unsavory things at conventions. It's a family friendly environment with actual kids in attendance along with the mass of teenagers/young adults/adults/and even a few older people. What fandom doesn't have rule 34? I can find something from even the most obscure shows and subjects, see the definition of rule 34!

 

[Envy]

Most of them just enjoy the show, but some go a little further and make porn for it and things like that.

To be honest, I find it creepy when they go as far as that. I think it's perfectly all right for them to enjoy the show, though. It only starts to get creepy when they start obsessing over it and collecting the toys and things. To each their own, though. It's not my place to speak.

I am not a Brony, but I do like My Little Pony and I sometimes enjoy collecting the toys. Why exactly is that creepy? Would you apply the same logic to adults who collect figurines from male-centered franchises? Because I see plenty of that, and don't see people calling them creepy. You can say it's not worth the money, but creepy?

Sorry, don't mean to put you on the spot. I definitely do find lots of aspects of Bronies to be quite creepy, especially the porn and dark stuff. I'm just curious why you find collecting the toys to be creepy. I don't think Bronies are really into collecting the toys, anyway. They take a very cartoon-centric view of the franchise - so much that they want to consider a Generation 1 cartoon (Tales) as Generation 2, even though Generation 2 exists, but only as a toyline.

 

[sock]

Most of them just enjoy the show, but some go a little further and make porn for it and things like that.

Omg no please no

I just find bronies and Adventure Time fans (that tend to be adults of course) really frickin creepy. I suppose we're scared of what we don't understand.

 

[teto]

I'm a fan of the show myself, but never would I class myself as a 'brony'. I typically don't like to be grouped with a bunch of people who make porn, creepypastas galore and mob you if you say anything bad about the show.

 

[Sporge27]

I kinda hate people questioning it so much it was a well made cartoon.

People stereotyped guys that liked it as weird though, and instinctively sought to prove it with examples of creepy CREEPY things. But honestly you can find that creepy stuff about just about any franchise. There are probably horrifying stories with Mario and Luigi.... shivers....

Well and after the stereotyping it makes it more accessible for creepy people to find the creepy things, and then you get an infestation, and yeah.

I do like the show, it is oddly charming. I have actively avoided internet fan groups though.

 

[lostineverfreeforest]

I have actively avoided internet fan groups though.

Look where you are, and a mod of no less!

ITT: People who have no idea what they're talking about.

 

[himeki]

I'm a brony!!

we can tell lmao.

 

[milkday]

I sort of think it's weird because it's not exactly aimed at that audience, is it? I think it's because people get obsessed with it and all they talk about is ponies and it gets a little weird and boring

 

[Ghost Soda]

I've never watched MLP:FiM before, but I honestly don't understand why people judge the fandom so hard. It has NSFW art? Suuuuure, because no kid show's ever had nsfw art before...

 

[Tao]

I don't see a problem with people liking MLP. Do I like it? No, I think it's awful, but I don't particularly care if other people enjoy it. I like quite a few things that aren't necessarily targeted towards me, I'm sure we all have at least one thing we like that isn't really targeted towards us. The target audience is essentially just a recommendation, not a definitive boundary.

Does it have some weird and creepy stuff happening in the fanbase? I can't deny that it does but so does practically anything that has a big enough following. I've seen quite a lot of creepy fan made Animal Crossing art/writing as well, I haven't disregarded the entire fanbase because of those 'disturbing' things though.

Does the fanbase attract awful people? Probably not. MLP has a pretty large fanbase and logic dictates that as the size of the fanbase increases, the amount of unsavory people in that fanbase is going to increase as well. The fact that there are a lot of 'bad' MLP fans is probably more of a case where the MLP fanbase is large enough that even its 'vocal minority' is bigger than most regular fanbases entirely.
Pretty much the same as with Dragonball Z or Sonic. I'm sure not everybody in their fanbase is a toxic sack of ****, they just have a damn big fanbase so we're likely to run into minority of idiots quite regularly.